Liberation: Deleted Scenes
by ElegantValkyrie
Summary: This set of chapters is meant to be an appendix to Metro: Liberation and includes some scenes and conversations from other character's points of view and other things that would not fit into the regular narrative. Mostly it is extra things I felt like writing either for my own enjoyment, or to clarify other happenings in the main story.
1. How We First Met - Expansion Pack

**Two and a Half Years before 2033 - End of Year 2030**

**"How We First Met" – Expansion Pack**

Sitting in the very darkest corner of the bustling restaurant with his back to the wall, the rugged Stalker carefully observed the people around him. There were several tall tables set up around the room, and not a single one was left empty. At many places in the room, people stood with their drinks in hand, as the population of the place proved to be more than there were chairs available.

Eating his supper of pork with mushrooms quickly, he glanced at his watch to check the time. He liked to go to different places in between patrols, as there was always something going on and always an opportunity to gather intelligence. Things in the stations, especially those of the Greater Metro, changed swiftly, and the Stalker had lately been particularly interested in the current state of affairs between the warring bandit clans. From Novokuznetskaya to Kitai-Gorod, there were no less than four different factions of organized criminals who were constantly plotting their next scheme. Although the Stalker had never bothered to involve himself in their plans or strike against them, he had taken up eavesdropping on the lesser bosses as somewhat of a hobby; perhaps also every now and then giving an anonymous tip to a rival clan, just for his own entertainment.

Tonight, there was definitely the pressing sense that something interesting would be happening at any moment, and so he cast his wary gaze at the crowd once more. This is when he spotted it; the building arrangement for a potentially lively display, a private performance for him to revel in. His senses never failed him. Amongst the usual disheveled and scrawny men with shaved heads and embellished pigskin jackets, there was a young woman wandering about the room in a leisurely manner. She wore a long patchwork dress under a dark gray jacket, which upon closer inspection seemed to be refashioned from an old military sweater to fit her slim figure perfectly. Her long reddish brown hair fell around her pale pink face like the picture frame on a masterpiece and although he had at first noticed her for her unusual presence, he was halted by her beauty.

Without question, the loudest table of men was sitting near this girl; they had been laughing and drinking heartily even before the Stalker had entered the establishment. From their outward appearance he could identify that they were members of the leading party of this station, and obviously enjoyed their free time without interference. Two of the men seemed to be boasting about some recent conquest, although he hadn't heard what their gains entailed. The others at the table praised and goaded them on, giving a noisy toast and slamming their mugs together.

This was the setup that would prove eventful. The Stalker quickly downed the rest of his tea in anticipation, not wanting to miss a moment once it had begun.

"Ey krasotka, why don't you come over here and sit with us, huh?" A stout man with a double chin cackled lustily to the girl, slapping his knee as if to invite her to sit on it and taking a swig of brew that then dripped from the corners of his mouth and into his beard.

"Do I look like a common whore to you?" The girl spoke in a crystal voice and sported a fierce glare, standing up straight and squaring her shoulders as if preparing for a fight.

"Not common, no! Definitely easier on the eyes than those career girls in Venice." The man guffawed again, his buddies joining him and slamming their mugs together in another toast. "But every one of you females has a price."

The stout man narrowed his eyes and his smile faded, he seemed to be staring her down, like a challenge. The Stalker was watching carefully for the girl's reaction, finding his grip had tightened on the edge of the plywood table. For a moment, he thought the girl might strike, or possibly even cry and run off to her tent to get her father or brother to settle the score. But she remained firmly rooted in place, her expression softened a bit and she took a step forward so the stout man could hear her as she began to speak again in a low voice.

"Alright then, we can make a deal." She showed a mischievous smile.

The Stalker was surprised by her statement but for the wrong reasons, he was sure that he had sensed something different about her, yet she had given in so easily. He sighed, sinking back against the wall and folding his hands together to rest his head against.

"Haha! I told you!" He toasted with his buddies once more. "Ten bullets? Twenty?"

"Your life." She spoke flatly, narrowing her eyes.

The Stalker perked his head up sharply and didn't take his eyes off her again, completely bewildered by her response.

"What the fuck kind of deal is that?" The stout man immediately flew into a rage, not wanting to be made a fool of.

"You heard me. I will go in that room over there with you, for whatever you like… but afterwards, I get to slit your fat throat." She spoke with distaste, nearly spitting as she laid out her terms.

The Stalker couldn't believe his ears. Was she simply toying with the man? Or did she truly have a blood lusting price for her services? Who would ever take her up on such an offer? Surely she wasn't serious. This girl didn't look like the sort who would sell themselves to any useless scum that turned up at the local bar. No, this one was far too clean and sharp-witted, he thought, but what was her game?

"Just what the fuck are you on about, bitch?" The man slammed his hand on the table, his friends looking angrier by the minute and each was heckling their supposed leader to teach her a lesson.

"Not worth it to you? No matter." She turned to walk off with a contented smile, waving the man away with her hand.

"Hold on a minute!" The man yelled angrily, standing up abruptly and reaching inside his jacket, assumedly for a weapon.

The Stalker flinched, getting to his feet instantly and reaching for his Stechkin. But there was no chance for him to intervene, as the girl proved to be more agile than anyone could have guessed. Just as the stout man with the beard was pulling out his gun, she slid one foot backwards and turned her body around, closing the distance between them and twisting his arm outwards with one hand. The swift but powerful motion forced him to release the grip on his pistol and she managed to catch it with her free hand and point it back at him with perfect form in a matter of seconds.

"Change your mind already?" She said in a sing-song voice, giving an unsettling smile as she clicked off the safety.

"Uhh, uhh! Fuck!" The fat bandit murmured as his friends swiftly abandoned him at the table. "Let's get out of here!" He yelled as he wriggled his wrist from her grip and turned to run after his companions, stumbling over another group of people at an adjacent table as the alcohol had stolen away his balance. Knocking over a chair on his way out of the enclosure, silence prevailed in the small place for several minutes. The other patrons in the bar weren't sure if they should applaud the girl or go running off in the same manner. Each inhabitant eyed this nimble girl warily, trying to judge her temperament as she looked over her prize with pride.

The Stalker was completely astounded, sinking back into his chair for one bewildered moment and examining her movements as she strolled away without a care, carrying her new weapon carefully with both hands and ejecting the clip to count the ammunition left inside. He replayed the event in his mind, and only now was asking himself why he'd been ready to come to her rescue at all. After a few seconds in awed silence, he quickly gathered his knapsack and helmet and went after her into the station.

Just a few meters straight ahead he spotted her amongst the crowd, walking away at that same leisurely pace and he rushed after her with hastened steps. That had been the answer to his inklings! It wasn't the event itself that astonished him, but now he understood that it was the girl that had piqued his intuition.

"That was well done, girl." He spoke softly, so as not to startle or provoke her as he caught up alongside.

"I am not a girl." She grumbled, not looking over at him.

"No, for certain. You are a fully grown and deadly woman." He paused, trying to recover himself but unsure how to proceed. Anything he could find out about her would satisfy his curiosity about such a magnificent performance. Where had she learned to move like that? "You are clearly not one of them, either. So, where is it you are from?"

"As if it's any of your business…" She scoffed.

"Listen," he began, drawing up in front of her and forcing her to stop, but then not fully knowing what he intended to say next. He suddenly really wanted to get to know her, understand her mind and motivations. But how could he possibly explain everything he needed to in just a few captivating sentences to hold her attention so she wouldn't overlook him? "You can put those talents of yours to better use. Make a name for yourself."

"I already have a name." She didn't hesitate to give him a smart retort.

"And what might that be?" He replied smoothly, finding the source of his charm once more.

She glanced sideways at him; a look of distrust was expressed as she had only just been berated by another man seconds ago. But as her eyes met his inquisitive stare, her expression relaxed and she halted in her tracks. His overwhelming energy emanated outwards, surrounding her, and she could no longer resist his questions.

"Aleksandrya." It was as if she had succumbed to a truth serum, her smoky gray eyes still locked with his icy blue ones, and she spoke very softly and clearly. "Aleksandrya Adrianovna Dmitriyev."

"It's nice to meet you, Aleksandrya. I am called Hunter." He found himself smiling and tried with difficulty to remain stern.

"That's not a real name." She furrowed her delicately sculpted brows.

"It's a title, I suppose… and my profession." He placed a hand over his heart to express his sincerity.

"I'm not interested in titles, or what you do to earn a living." Managing to break his spell, she brushed him away and continued along the vestibule.

The stalker was completely halted, bewildered by the fact that his charisma alone was not enough to hold her attention. Grown men and soldiers of all ranks balked at his presence, and yet this young woman found him uninteresting and unintimidating. Finding that he actually wanted to tell her his real name so she wouldn't walk away, he struggled for the words. It had been so long that he had gone by Hunter that he almost didn't remember.

"Ivan!" He called loudly, making several people in the area including Aleksandrya stop short. Striding over to where she stood staring at him in disbelief, he dared to put a hand on her shoulder so she couldn't run off again. "My name is Ivan… Antonovich… Zaytsev." He spilled out the names slowly and reluctantly.

"Zaytsev?" She raised an eyebrow. "Like… Vasily Zaytsev? The sniper?"

He gave one quick nod, not wanting to admit his link to the famous Soviet historical figure; that aspect of his background was not up for discussion at the moment.

"What exactly do you want?" She sighed softly, not as if she was annoyed but realizing that now she was ensnared. Although her expression was dejected, her eyes proved to him that she was fascinated by him, especially as she was now taking note of his uniform and arsenal.

"I want to help you." He shook his head, that wasn't really the answer. "I want to know where you learned to do that kind of stunt. If you're already that adept, then I want to teach you what I know, and show you what I do."

"And why would I want to do what you do?" She asked tentatively, leaning onto her toes in wait for the answer and cocking her head slightly.

"You're still not convinced?" His expression now turned serious, as he had tired of her reluctant acceptance. In his heart he understood people through their most slight changes in expression or demeanor, and she was more than interested in his proposition. "Tell me, what exactly brought you to the bar this evening? You neither ate, or drank, or talked to anyone at all before that asshole bothered you."

She attempted to hide her surprised and fearful face by turning her head away from him, but he would have none of it; turning her head back in his direction with a hand that seemed so big compared to her, he forced her to look into his piercing blue eyes.

"Either you've come to cause trouble on someone else's orders, or you are well on your way to becoming what I already am. We are one and the same, Aleksandrya Adrianovna. So, what do you say to that?" He narrowed his eyes, waiting for her reply and confirmation, exerting every ounce of his invisible willpower into her through his grip on her delicate face.

Aleksandrya spoke not a single word, but nodded her head slowly. Taking in the entire image of the strapping Stalker with her widened eyes, she tried to guess how many battles had made him the threateningly massive and hardened figure that he was. She could faintly feel his pulse from his fingers, and was lulled into a rhythm that aligned with his aura.

"Good. Now, come with me." Slipping his grasp from her pale pink face to her dainty wrist, he led her into the tunnel and away from the station. She did nothing to protest or prevent him.

* * *

After being guided down the rest of the crowded platform reluctantly, with little variation in the Stalker's pace, the girl decided to try to slow him down with further conversation. If she could hear him speak more, perhaps she could convince herself that she wasn't being led away to her death in some abandoned hallway where he could easily just wring her neck without effort and this station would forget all about her. There was a cautious feeling inside her stomach, only it wasn't based in fear but in curiosity. She doubted even her own reasoning that this rugged soldier was hauling her away for ransom, or worse, and instead spent the next few strides trying to figure out what she could about him.

"What is Sparta?" She asked innocently, still trying to absorb every detail about his arsenal. The official name of the Order was printed on his uniform and helmet along with a logo depicting a stylized red letter M and a white skull.

"What is—? You seriously don't know about the Polis Rangers?" He jerked his head back for a moment, but did not stop walking and did not let up on his moderate grip around her wrist. "The Spartan Order is a neutral force, for the protection of the entire Metro and its people."

"I have heard of the Order, but I've never met a Ranger before. I suppose rumors give precedence to legends." She said cryptically, wriggling under his grasp to try to communicate that she would still follow if he let go.

Hunter wasn't quite sure what she meant by that but the strange comment didn't deter him from his forward momentum. He wasn't about to let her go before he could fully explore in his own mind exactly what his intentions were, and in any case he didn't want to risk her getting bored of him again and wandering off. He almost chuckled to himself at the incredulity of the recent memory – she had nearly just walked away from him completely unimpressed and for the first time in forever he had struggled to make conversation, was it just because he didn't normally talk to women so casually? Barking orders and reporting about a mission was easy, but conversations with the opposite sex required more finesse than he was used to. And she was unusually strong-willed, which had made it all the more difficult to convince her just to listen.

But now he most definitely had her attention, as she kept up with his brisk pace and asked him more about himself. He tried to consider how he was going to answer, how he was going to project himself, as she was sure to have more detailed questions about his profession and his intentions in dragging her out of the station alone. But that was just it; alone. He had become so accustomed to being alone most of the time, though there were missions where he commanded a squad or platoon for a larger operation or for diplomatic purposes, the majority of his missions were done solo. It had just been easier that way, faster and more efficient, as he found he had little need for rest or other such recovery periods. Staying more than a day or two in his small room at the Smolenskaya Spartan base even for sleep or injuries made him feel uncomfortably lazy, and he always had an anxious sense that the Metro would somehow succumb to devilish forces if he was not out in the tunnels or at the very least keeping a watch somewhere. But it wasn't entirely that he wanted to be alone, there had just never been anyone who could keep up with his pace or enthusiasm for long enough to warrant taking on a specific partner.

"I want to know if you can clarify something for me." She spoke the question which shook him from his thoughts but it was more of a straightforward demand if he'd ever heard one. Not exactly in the mood for small talk before they reached a secluded destination, he grunted a reply, not knowing if she'd take the hint. "What kind of creatures do you hunt? ...or do you mean people?" She tried to slow him down, her arm straightening out in protest but he did not let up.

A moment of silence passed without the Stalker so much as turning his head in her direction.

"Your name? Hunter? Your _profession_, you said?" She prodded.

"What if I give you this time to think about it and then take a guess? Don't speak again until I tell you to." He looked back at her momentarily to get his point across, still not releasing her, although he wasn't holding her very tightly.

She squeaked out a sort of indignant huff, implying that she wasn't happy with his intonation but would oblige his demand.

Through a dark side passage in the northern tunnel and up a flight of stairs into a series of corridors and service rooms he led her into a specific opening that curved around into a sort of outpost. There was a bedroll here, a radio that was currently turned off, a lantern already lit, and some makeshift furniture where he plopped her down before turning away and began rummaging in a metal trunk in the corner.

She continued to size him up with her eyes, sweeping over every detail of his outfit and his demeanor. He hadn't given her his permission to continue talking but he had let go of her and turned away; and what did she really need his authorization for anyway? She had a right to know her supposed captor, or at least get some kind of explanation as to his strange name and profession.

"You're a shadow man. Not just some stalker, some soldier, but this right here is what you do. You wait in a dark corner for the right moment. I saw you sitting in the back of the bar by yourself." She began, slowly at first, unsure of herself, and also not wanting her words to come across as insulting somehow, because she still didn't know exactly what he was capable of or what he wanted from her.

Hunter turned his head towards her and his narrowed eyes gave away that she was on to something.

"I don't think it has to do with animals at all, and not really people either." She spoke more confidently, knowing she had his attention piqued.

"Not really?" He replied with an eyebrow raised, as if egging her on before he turned back and kept digging in the chest.

"No. Only if they cross your path." She leaned forward with her hands gripping the corners of the bench she sat on. "Or catch your attention." She mused in a gentler voice, referring to herself.

He turned his head once more, this time giving away nothing but a wary glance, though she took it to mean that she was correct. Perhaps her feminine charms weren't exactly lost on this man, though it was obvious that lust was not his primary motive for approaching her. Still, he was rather attractive and somehow charming, though not in the typical fashion that she was used to when other men made conversation with her. This one was on some sort of mission, she thought, and it didn't even really have to do with her, but there was some greater purpose to his existence which she didn't quite understand yet. She took a deep breath and studied him as he swayed slightly in his search; he wore a black and blue camouflage uniform that she had never seen anywhere else before, a thick bulletproof vest and shoulder pauldrons. Pouches and accessories hung all over his torso: grenades, a small orange medical case, two large sheathed knives, a shortwave radio, a map case, and a holster strap around his shoulders which carried a huge pistol. His helmet was a really fancy model, the kind with a gas mask built right into the visor. She had never seen anyone even half as impressive as this man before.

"I think it's something like... when there's a threat – you find it. Not just for your Rangers but anywhere. You travel so far from Polis that you aren't just a guard… hm, but you are too young to be from the regular military before the end of the world." Aleks paused, wondering just how old this stranger actually was. He couldn't have been any older than forty, which would have given him too little time to have been in the army before the bombs rained down on Moscow twenty years ago. No, he was entirely comfortable in the Metro and knew how to operate on his own. There were no uniformed ranks of multiple men like this as she had seen at the Victory Day parade in Red Square when she was a little girl - he was unique. "No, I think it's like a watcher, a vigilante, if something goes wrong then you find a way to fix it."

Hunter was completely silent and still, he had stopped ruffling the items in the trunk and sat back on his heels and took a breath.

"It seems you're ahead of the curve. You can already sense…" He said in a low voice without turning around. "Yes, girl, a vigilante."

"My name is Aleks." She insisted loudly, getting to her feet and planting them firmly, determined this time to have his full attention.

"Not Sasha like other girls named…? No, right, it's _Alexandria_ like the ancient city in Egypt. How interesting." He mused aloud, and stood up to his full height with some sort of catalogue in his hands.

"Yes. My father named me for his love of mythology and the great library that contained all the world's knowledge. But only my mother calls me Sasha." She crossed her arms. "And I want to be treated like an equal, not a little helpless girl - Sasha sounds too soft."

"So your mother is alive, then? I would have guessed you for an orphan, to be living in a place like this and toying with bandits for fun." Hunter tried to change his expression from the amused banter into something similar to concern, but it just went flat as he considered the answer to his own question. He was going to have to get to know her, and quickly, as he didn't have much time before he was due back at Polis to report in and he wasn't sure when he might travel this way, or if he'd be able to find her again.

"I don't want to talk about it." Aleks said quietly, glancing down at the floor and away from his direction as he approached her closer. "Why do you care anyway? You don't even use your name…"

"Never mind about me, this is about you. And _I_ was not the one causing a scene in the bar. So you have no choice but to tell me. See, in order for this relationship to work, we must be able to share secrets. There must be trust. No fear, no lying. We exchange secrets and stories until there is no one else to tell them to. Let's say it's like quantum entanglement." His tall and well-built frame loomed over her, casting a strange shadow on the wall behind him that seemed to amplify the sense of tension. What had she gotten herself into?

"Relationship? Entanglement?" She looked at him sideways, and seeming to accept the terms she continued. "Then what's your secret?"

"I told you one already. Besides you, only one other man alive knows my real name. I don't use it for anything anymore, that world is gone anyway." He seemed to gaze through her, perhaps imagining his life before the war.

"Zaytsev?" She remembered aloud, "You're what, his grandson or something? Is that right, Ivan Antonovich?" She teased him seriously, hoping to get more of a reward with her questions.

He nearly cringed at the name, but somehow liked the way this girl said it without fear.

"And where is your mother then, _Sashenka_? Back in Chinatown working in the kitchens of that bar? Did I distract you from a family operation of stealing guns from bandits?" Hunter teased her back, that playful smile pulling at the corners of his mouth again. Why did he find this banter so amusing? Could he even remember smiling over anything else recently?

"She's back at home… in Reich." Aleks glanced away again, not wanting to get caught in his gaze which could draw out her deepest thoughts.

"Trust." He said quietly as he reached out and put one of his strong hands on her shoulder which seemed so tiny by comparison, his light blue eyes widened and then his face relaxed, not showing force, but emanating a sense of calm that made her feel at ease – injecting her with that truth serum again.

"She lives in Darwin station… Tverskaya, with my stupid step-father." She said angrily, crossing her arms and trying with difficulty to not to look him in the eyes as frustrated tears welled in her own. The pain of the memory was still too fresh to not get emotional.

"Not a good man I take it?" He cocked an eyebrow, relaxing his hold on her now that she had begun to open up.

"That depends what you think of _Der Führer_." Aleks stared straight back at him, her eyes seemed to burn with fire but really it was just the reflection from the lantern.

His stunned reaction gave her leave to sit back down uncomfortably as his hand fell from her and he sank into his own seat across from her. Had he just unknowingly kidnapped the Führer's step-daughter? But then what was she doing in Kitai-Gorod? Had she run away from Reich on her own, or had she been excommunicated?

"Yes, I know what you'll ask next, I ran away." She spoke up after he hadn't given his opinion of the leader of the Fourth Reich stations and he could swear that she was reading his mind. "I escaped actually, with my friend - Andrei. He was a security officer, but after his wife died in childbirth he agreed to help me. We left Darwin station together, that was about half a year ago, and I haven't looked back since then. Fuck the fascists, and my stupid mother for marrying one - the _worst_ one."

"I imagine they are looking for you then?" Hunter looked up at her, but she had turned her gaze to the floor again. Any hint she could give to her refugee status would help him construct his plans on what to do next. He wasn't keen on leaving Aleks where he'd found her, as those bandits were sure to seek revenge once sober, and now the Nazis were drawn into the mix. He quickly tried to come up with ideas, where could she relocate that would be relatively safe and also accessible for him to visit whenever he could spare time between assignments?

"Yes. At first Andrei and I went to the Red Line, but at that time they had an extradition policy and we didn't want to take our chances with all the snitching going on. Hanza has a similar agreement with Reich, and it's impossible to get the kind of documents they want, so that was out." Aleks shrugged her shoulders, sitting back down as she calmly explained herself. She untangled her arms and had begun gesturing with them.

"And how did you come to Kitai-Gorod?" Hunter sat up straight, now fully invested in hearing her history.

"We had to lie about our identities to the Reds to get to the next station down the line, through Theatre, and then we bargained our way to Venice by way of a trade caravan. Venice didn't have room for any new residents, so we ended up here." Aleks crossed her arms almost defensively, as if trying to figure out how this Ranger was able to get all of this information to come pouring out of her. She wrinkled her nose as she had wrapped up her account of her escape, eyeing Hunter suspiciously. "Why do you want to know all this?"

"And so you live here with this Andrei now? As a security guard I'm sure he can protect you?" Hunter leaned forward and lowered his voice.

"Of course, just as he has been all along. He's more like my real father than that pretender could ever hope to be. He's the one who taught me to shoot and fight hand to hand." Aleks gazed off towards the door, forgetting about her concern for his motives. That answer also satisfied his question about where she had learned her swift movements.

"Well that answers that," He nodded to himself, "Though you'll need to be careful for a while in case those criminals recognize you. You should change your appearance." Hunter gestured to her outfit.

"And what's wrong with my appearance?" She shot her head like a whip in his direction.

"Nothing's wrong..." He tried to hide a smile, even from himself, not wanting to admit that her beauty was part of what enticed him to speak to her. "It's just, a tactic. Understand? For me, I don't need to hide who I am; I can settle my own business. But for you, as of now, you're a target. You need to learn how to disappear, and that will be your first lesson."

"Disappear? Like abra-fucking-cadabra?" She said sarcastically. "What lesson?"

"It's about how you act." He attempted to calm her with a hand stretched out flat. "You ever heard the term 'laying low'? Well it's like this, do what you can to look different, stay at home and don't take risks. Assume that everyone is out to get you, that's how you survive."

"So how am I supposed to act in the presence of strange and threatening men?" She jabbed at him with a playful twist at the corner of her lips which got him to glance away awkwardly. "I've survived so far, and without your advice even. How do you explain that?"

"Do you know anything about that pistol you filched?" Hunter changed the subject entirely, not wanting to walk down that particular track with her, as it might compromise their own arrangement if she were to over think his advice. It was time for more practical discussion, what else did she know about combat? About defense, and weapons, and strategy?

"What about it? It doesn't matter what it is, I was just going to sell it. I have my own gun already." Without hesitation she gathered up her patchwork skirt, exposing her long milky white legs which terminated in a worn pair of combat boots which were a size too large. To his further surprise, there was a thick fabric strap tied around one thigh. She had an immaculate Makarov handgun with a Metro-made silencer pressed against her, revealing it to him for only a few seconds before returning it to the hidden location. She looked up in time to catch his staggered expression before challenging him with her eyes and her next few words. "You don't think I'd walk into a bar full of bandits unarmed, do you? I'm not stupid."

"Well, no, I suppose—" Hunter coughed awkwardly and tried to hide his flushed face with the back of his hand, desperate to hook back onto the train of thought he had lost before her intimate revelation. It suddenly felt very warm in the small room. "Anyways, I was going to start by teaching you about some weapons specifications. Do you know much about your Makarov?"

"It takes nine by eighteen ammunition of the same name, the standard sidearm of our police and military forces even though they tried to replace it a few years back." Aleks gently patted at the weapon under her skirt, and moved to pick up the stolen pistol from beside her.

"And have you gotten much practice with it?" Hunter asked, impressed enough with her response.

"Not on… live targets, you mean?" Aleks asked ominously, trying not to give anything away.

"Whichever." Hunter growled coldly.

"Yes." She confirmed non-specifically, narrowing her eyes to his indifference.

"Fair enough, you have my confidence thus far. I only aim to expand your knowledge." Hunter stretched his eyebrows up and then unfurled the volume that had been clutched in his hand this whole time. "I want you to study this until I see you again, remember as much as you can – especially about any of the firearms you've already seen or used. Got that?"

"A catalogue? Okay." Aleks accepted the thick magazine from his outstretched hand, already beginning to flip through its pages in search of a model similar to the new one in her possession. "So, you're leaving?"

"Yes, I have to get back to Polis by tonight." He checked his wristwatch briefly and then looked back over at her, "I may not return for some time, but meanwhile I will see if I can find somewhere else for you and your Andrei to go to. It isn't safe here for people such as yourself. Between the Slovenians and the Muslims… no, it's better that you don't stay here for too much longer. This damned station is turning into a powder keg, and soon they'll have segregation and puritanical standards the same as your fascists."

"You want us to move? But where would we go?" Aleks looked up with fear in her eyes, not understanding why this stranger was so invested in her safety. "I don't even have my old passport anymore; I burned it after we got free of the Red Line, so nobody could trace it back."

"You let me worry about that, documents, everything. I have connections." The Stalker got to his feet swiftly and adjusted the rucksack straps on his shoulders before walking away slowly. "Now come on, I'll escort you back to your tent or wherever and while you are waiting for me, you won't go anywhere or take any risks. Do you promise?"

"But—Just wait, one minute, please." Aleks demanded, although in a timid voice as she stood up from the bench.

Hunter stopped short and turned around even though he was already past the frame of the door. He cocked his head with interest and prayed to whatever god that cared, hoping that she wasn't about to refute everything they had discussed.

"Why are you doing this? Who are you, really?" She clutched her stolen pistol and the catalogue tightly in her hands, as if ready to defend herself with the items if he made any sudden moves.

"I don't really know why," He mumbled, thinking out loud with a sigh. Then he settled down on the thought and spoke more clearly. "We're supposed to protect people, and no matter how agile you are, someone like you doesn't belong here. And in your situation - well, you're more than just a refugee. You need diplomatic asylum."

"But what does that even mean?" Aleks remained rooted to the spot, dropping her hands slightly but not breaking her fearful gaze. "You don't know anything about me at all."

"I wouldn't know how to explain it exactly. I just sense… that you need my help and I can't ignore that feeling. I don't always decide where I'm needed, you know. It's like you said, waiting in the shadows for the right moment." He looked down at the floor, almost ashamed of his next statement and not knowing if she would ever understand it. "And you… you remind me of myself, somehow, and… I didn't think there was anyone else like me. And well, we are both alone, aren't we? But not anymore. As I said, we are one and the same, Aleksandrya Adrianovna. So what do you say?"

After a long pregnant pause during which the Stalker was trying not to breathe or move a muscle so he wouldn't miss her response, Aleks softened her worried expression and smiled.

"Alright, Ivan Antonovich, I promise I won't go anywhere."

Hunter didn't even flinch at the name, from her lips it sounded warm and comforting and he returned her smile, feeling a strange and unfamiliar flutter in his chest.

He gestured towards the hallway, which bade her to follow him back to the station, and he didn't have to drag her this time. She followed along behind him complacently and quietly, and he could feel her gaze sweeping across his back intermittently.

"Don't come back down this way looking for me, I won't be returning here again until I've found a suitable place for you to relocate to. And don't tell anyone else about this, about me, they wouldn't believe you anyway. If you want to inform your Andrei about the situation, just exercise caution when doing so, and tell him he has nothing to fear from me – you don't, alright? My job is to protect people – 'If not we, then who?' That's what the Spartan Order is for." He glanced back at her to make sure she had heard everything.

"I understand." Aleks almost sang the confirmation, taking in his words with reverence as if they were a holy gospel and nodding her head the whole time.

He led the whole way back to the station platform and then stopped, allowing her to take the lead towards her domicile which was situated between the oddly-shaped geometric columns in the eastern hall. The low square arches were spaced narrowly and frequently, leaving just enough space between each for a small apartment and much of the main hall floor space available for community activities. She stopped at one of these apartments mid-way down the platform and cautiously put her ear to the door. Hunter looked at her puzzlingly before understanding that she was trying to determine if her security guard friend was at home or not. The slight nod of her head gave away that he was not there.

"I'll go in and change my clothes right away, like you said." She began in an uncertain voice, not knowing how to say goodbye in this strange circumstance.

"You'll do just fine; after all you've survived all this time without my advice." He teased with a smirk, mimicking her insult from earlier.

"Sorry," she stifled a laugh and covered her mouth with the hand that was holding the catalogue. She was instantly forgiven in his mind.

"And let me have that pistol before I go; it's a P-96M by the way, not worth too much in that condition but I'll trade you for it anyway – save you the trouble." Hunter unsnapped a canvas pouch on the front of his armor and took out a full clip of cartridges and held it out to her.

"Are you sure—?" Aleks reluctantly made the trade only because she understood that he was giving her far more cartridges than the pistol was worth but not comprehending why. "I don't want to be in your debt."

"Think of it as my appreciation for tonight's entertainment. Really, I'm in your debt. Anyway, I've already got more than enough for myself," he gestured to his remaining arsenal with a sly look. "Now go inside, and don't go out again until you've changed clothes and spoken to this Andrei."

"Andrei Ivanovich. I won't. Thanks." She confirmed everything with a single nod, leaning her hand on the door pull and not wanting to look away from him. "Bye, then."

"We will speak again soon." He said warmly, taking one last moment to look into her eyes, the color of a rain cloud, and then turned sharply to the left and disappeared amongst the crowd on the platform.

Aleks quietly slipped inside and latched the door closed, diving immediately onto the lower bunk in the small enclosure and sprawling out her limbs. She breathed heavily for a few minutes, suddenly overwhelmed with all the energy and emotions she had just cycled through, and bewildered as to the kind of strange transaction that had just taken place with the handsome Ranger known as Hunter.

Less than an hour ago, her life looked completely different; boring and dismal, and hard to imagine much success or happiness in it within the confines of Kitai-Gorod station. Suffering and running in exile from one station to another, she was hesitant to pick up and move again – but the Stalker had made some good points about the politically charged atmosphere at the dual-platformed Kitai-Gorod. Steadily being broken into halves by two headstrong bandit clans of differing ideologies, she had done her best to stay out of their way and attempt to portray herself as a simple working girl. She did shifts in the kitchens and tended the meager farm plots in the tunnel that was not used for railcars with the other women in the station, but she certainly didn't aspire to stay here and complete busywork for the rest of her life.

Thus, she had begun to use the very same skills she had learned in order to make her escape from Reich to escape her dreary daily routine. The performance that Hunter had witnessed this evening was only the fifth or so attempt she had made to hoodwink the haughty bandits and nick some sort of prize off them. Normally she would stealthily take something off their person when they were distracted or passed out drunk – this had been the first time she had used her tactics openly, nearly wrestling with that stout ugly man to save her own skin before he could shoot her. She hadn't wanted to admit any of this to the Stalker of course, who seemed to have such confidence in her; and her heart had been perpetually pounding against her chest throughout the entire exchange, both with the bandits and then with Hunter.

But in that little room, her life had taken a new and completely unexpected turn. Now before her there was a light, shining in all its obscure possibility. A strapping hero on a white steed had come to rescue her from the tower she was imprisoned in. But no, it wasn't really like that, and she knew that fairytales were not real. Her father used to read her those kinds of stories, himself a worldly man who studied literature and history in addition to chemistry which was his main profession. She had asked him to read her those childish fairytale books over and over again at bedtime, sometimes the same story three times in one night, before asking him if those things would ever happen to her someday. He had politely indulged her fantasy, but always encouraged her to make her own path in the world and not wait for any princes. Well, even so, she hadn't been waiting for anyone – he had simply shown up on his own, by some astronomical chance, immediately taking notice of her and implanting himself into her narrative without reserve. Maybe he had just known how much she needed someone like him? He had specifically said that he could sense that she needed help, but how could he have seen through everything?

The explicit details about the enigmatic Stalker were overwhelming her senses, and so she decided to put it all aside for the time being and try to figure out how she would explain her new acquaintance to Andrei Ivanovich. A stoic and straight-forward man, who had been chief of residential security back in Darwin station, Andrei would most certainly want as many details as she could give. But how in the world could she make any of it sound believable without starting to doubt even herself? The echo of all of his words rang like a haunting and crazy dream that she was vividly remembering after waking up. A Polis Ranger had appeared as if by magic and within the hour not only proposed some kind of partnership to her, but also stated with firm intent that she and Andrei needed to move away from Kitai-Gorod to somewhere safer - and that he would take care of it all. But where was even considered 'safe' in the Metro? Besides Polis and maybe Hanza, which seemed like completely unattainable destinations for even someone of Hunter's caliber to secure, there weren't too many independent stations within the Koltsevaya line. She didn't like the idea of living in some outlying collective farm station, and what did this Ranger expect her to do day-to-day when he wasn't around, anyway?

And Hunter – could she trust what he had said when he at last revealed his motivations to her? Could she believe any of it at all? Had it just been hopeful nonsense when he said that she reminded him of himself? That they were at all similar? How could anyone possibly make a comparison like that – a turbulent runaway girl from arguably one of the most infamous families in the Greater Metro was the same as a brave warrior from Polis who was burdened with the noble defense of those who could not protect themselves? The idea was absurd, but just as soon as she had chucked it out of her head, she began to understand that he didn't mean that they were alike by way of titles. Hunter must have meant something deeper than superficial attributes when he stated that she was like him; cunning, rebellious, maybe even a little reckless. And lonely. But was he really alone when he had the entire Spartan Order behind him? Or was he some kind of rogue operative who didn't align with the rest of that force? She didn't know enough about the Order or this one Ranger to hazard that guess, but she had immediately pinned Hunter as a lone wolf and he hadn't denied it. And besides, even if you belonged to a whole unit, a whole community, one can certainly still feel very alone. She knew that herself from experience which is why she had ended up here in the first place, and suddenly she felt sorry for him. Maybe he didn't always like roaming between stations to carry out justice on his own? And this partnership he kept speaking of – was he looking for some kind of companion? And if so, then what kind exactly?

Suddenly the latch of the door clicked as someone tried to open it from the outside, and Aleks shot up with a harsh tone ringing in her ears, panicking because she hadn't kept her promise about changing her clothes right away. What if it was Hunter coming back to double check and he had heard all of her crazy thoughts? Or worse, it was that scumbag bandit who had sobered up and figured out her identity, come to collect his pistol which she had already given away. She knew she didn't stand a chance in an actual fight against him or his posse.

"Aleks, you up? I'm back from watch." Andrei Ivanovich's gruff voice funneled through the cracks of the wooden planks.

Aleks deflated, comfortably relieved, trying to calm her heart and mind enough to reply to him and open the door.

"Yes, Andrei, I'm coming." She got up to unhook the latch, suddenly feeling very excited and grinning, "And I have something very important to tell you about!"


	2. The Blindfold Game

**Author's Note:**

This scene revealed itself to me in a dream, and I just had to write it out despite that it doesn't actually belong in "Liberation" and instead would go into the prequel if I get around to writing that. But for those who are enjoying the romance with Hunter and wanted to hear more about how his relationship with Aleksandrya progressed then it's here for your (and my!) enjoyment. It's a good foundational scene, along with the subsequent chapter of Hunter talking to Melnik about her, that way you as the reader understand the motivations behind Aleks' feelings and actions during Liberation.

* * *

**One Year Before the Beginning of "Liberation"  
****Year 2032**

When the enigmatic and intimidating Stalker returned to Novokuznetskaya, the whispers of his presence reached her before he did. She was already waiting for him in the usual place - next to the train car at the edge of the right-hand tunnel, in her full battle dress with her rifle slung over her shoulder. He paused and smiled, because she hadn't seen him coming yet, still concealed in the crowd of pedestrians weaving in and out of the square marble archway that separated them.

Hunter didn't want to admit, even to himself, that he had missed being in her company, though that strange and subtle void inside him seemed to heal when she was around. It had been almost two whole weeks since he had last seen her, leaving her on the dock in Venice when he had to take the boat north to get back to Polis. How he had stood there and watched her thin form recede into a blur and wished that she was on the boat next to him. He had fancied in his meditations a time where they didn't have to meet and part constantly and that the tables were turned in reverse; that being with her was the normal order of things and only occasionally would he have to leave her side for a day or two.

He hadn't been bold enough yet in real life to suggest that she give up her citizenship or abandon her group of friends and fellow refugees which was quickly becoming a clan by rights, though he'd had those conversations in his own mind a few times. Her group worked currently as mercenaries for the defense commander at Novokuznetskaya, making sure that no errant criminals or other undesirables from Venice remained in the vicinity for more than twenty-four hours – a job that Hunter had helped her secure. This last bastion of her careful planning and intelligence gathering was all that kept Novokuznetskaya from becoming another annexation of the organized crime syndicates. He felt genuine pride for her, and not just because a good part of her ability for leadership and tactical planning was in recognition of his careful teaching, but because she had interwoven those lessons with her own guile and truly excelled at it.

As he watched her now, she had leaned back against the faded blue metal body of the train comfortably, studying her fingernails momentarily and then perked her head up and looked around. Knowing that she had sensed his gaze on her, he tried to quickly hide his sentimental smile and took in a deep breath in preparation for the impending conversation; stepping through the archway crowded with residents, he greeted her in the quiet corner.

"Hey Aleks," he said almost sheepishly, not looking directly into her eyes.

"Hi, Hunter. So, what will it be this time?" She asked immediately and with excited smile, wanting a hint as to the day's activities per usual. Though she always came prepared for anything, he warned when there would be special circumstances in their mission just to be sure she had a gas mask or extra ammunition.

"We'll go to the abandoned transfer tunnel towards Polyanka." He motioned behind him vaguely with one hand.

"Is it true that there's gas there?" She eyed him suspiciously, shifting herself upright and picking up her small rucksack from the floor.

"Well we aren't going into the station, there's a depot halfway, a quiet spot we can practice in." He reported sternly, knowing that she had only been probing him for further clues about what the actual lesson would be but even he wasn't quite sure yet what it would entail. He was quickly running out of ideas for anything new and relevant to show her, as they'd been exploring tunnels and practicing their skills for well over a year now. She hadn't needed too much instruction anyway, as her intuition proved to be her greatest talent; with only a simple explanation to go off of, she fulfilled his parameters to the fullest extent and still impressed him each time with her genuine passion for doing so. Only by adding to her ability to travel and inserting more technical knowledge into their activities enabled him to keep the title of mentor, as he had also learned a lot from her when he hadn't been expecting to.

"Someday I'd like to go there; people say you can see your destiny – that it shows you things, impossible things." She regaled while walking along beside him as he led the way through the main hall that was dotted with spiked lanterns in the middle of the patterned tile floor. "Some people see the world from before, other people see the future."

"Most of them are just liars and idiots." He mocked, trying to control his tone of voice somewhere between amusement and arrogance. "Anybody who would go there looking for that shit is, anyway."

"And you've been there before, I take it? Don't answer – of course you have. So what did you see?" She probed with an eyebrow raised, grabbing at his sleeve incessantly as if she wouldn't let go until he told her some fantastical tale.

"Nothing at all. If you've got your wits about you and you don't give in to stupid fantasies, you can go through there just fine." He growled, suddenly tiring of her childish fixation on the station.

"Well, I'm not afraid of it. I'm not afraid of destiny." She said with a sly and confident smile, looking over at him but not losing step, wanting to ask him about his fears and his destiny.

"Are you afraid of _anything_, then?" He asked incredulously and the smile reappeared against his will, and feeling as though they had already had this conversation once, he tried to think back on it.

"I try not to think about fear." She said uncertainly, finally releasing her grasp on his arm and crossing her own across her chest. "I'm only afraid of the things I don't know about yet."

"That's very wise." He replied quietly and remained silent afterwards. Aleks didn't try to initiate any further conversation after they stepped off the platform and entered the dark and damp tunnel.

They walked along at a brisk and confident pace in the direction of the Circle Line for twenty minutes, and Aleks had looked over at Hunter every few steps, wondering what he was thinking about because he hadn't spoken a word since the conversation about Polyanka. He had seemed somehow irritated and she wondered what he had been up to before he appeared at Novokuznetskaya. Had something happened somewhere else in the Metro that warranted concern? Should she ask him about it? Maybe he was just tired from a long journey? It's not that she was unused to his taciturn personality but it sometimes struck her as strange because there were other times where he was quite loquacious – often asking her about her work at the station, what intel she had gathered, and even how her comrades were doing. In a way, she recognized that she was also one of his informants, and smiled proudly at the thought that she was assisting The Order, even just by helping defend one small station and keeping a keen ear out for rumors. She chalked up his silence to instinct, as he could sense things in the tunnels that normal people couldn't, and his hearing was excellent. There were even times she could swear that he heard her thoughts, and upon that remembrance, tried to silence her suspicions.

This southbound tunnel became cleaner and drier as they went along, and Aleks knew that it was only due to the Hanza patrols and the incline of the tracks which left the waters of Venice behind them. Beyond the transfer to the Hanza territory, she had heard of the Pavelets station but didn't know much about it. She was intending to ask Hunter what lay further along the Zamoskvoretskaya line but he was already calling her over to the side of the tracks in a seemingly random location. In the pitch darkness was a hallway, barely noticeable even with her flashlight pointing right towards it – recessed into a depression between the tunnel liners, as if one section had melted away and opened up a corridor right into the bowels of the Earth.

"This will get us past the blockage," he said quietly, and she understood that the actual tunnel connections were collapsed or demolished, probably by Hanza, and that this was the only way through.

Murmuring her response of understanding, he disappeared into the space past the open door and she hurried to follow. In the first room there was an electric box humming to keep the red emergency lights glowing and rusted metal shelving around the perimeter. Three doors connected to the room, one on each side, and Hunter knew just which one led onwards to their destination, opening it without hesitating for a second.

In the next hall the air duct in the ceiling was spilling out brownish water which was running down the concrete floor in the opposite direction and disappeared through a grate in the floor. Hunter had stopped, coming to terms with the fact that there was no other way but to duck through the water to get to the other side. He had already begun removing his body armor as Aleks took the rifle off her shoulder and jumped straight through the torrent, holding the weapon out to the side so it would not get wet. He chuckled quietly at her disgusted grumbling, evidently the water was cold. Finishing the task of undressing by removing his uniform top and bundling it under one arm with his armor, he dashed through the stream in one leap, the rusty water drenching his undershirt over one shoulder and partly down his back.

Aleks was still shaking herself off on the other side, bent over and unraveling her hair from the plastic clip she used to pile it up behind her head. The reddish brown strands had grown several more inches since the last time he had seen her with her hair down, and he watched silently as she wrung it out as best she could before twisting it up into the clip again. Catching his glance as she finished, he tried to pretend that she wasn't his focus, gesturing further down the hall to direct her attention onwards. With half a smile she took up her weapon from the floor and obeyed, leading the way to the end of the hall and out into the abandoned tunnel.

Drawing even with her and falling into step again, silence prevailed as they walked for another ten minutes. This tunnel was eerily silent, but not in a foreboding way, it just seemed so devoid of activity compared to the hustle and bustle of the station they had just come from. Hunter had not passed through this way in a long while, as he was afforded transit through Hanza and the other confederations by rank and title. But with Aleks there was always a need to find secluded places so that he could focus and they wouldn't be disturbed. Sometimes he wished that there didn't need to be a lesson or mission involved, and that he could just come see her as respite from his other tasks. Why not just sit comfortably in a tent and read a book to her? She seemed to enjoy the last one he had brought, a novel by Ivan Turgenev that he had read way back in his school days. But she had a genuine interest in these excursions, especially when he hazarded taking her along with him on his ordered patrols and even sometimes to the surface outposts. He didn't know how she would react if he dared suggest that they simply sat around and did nothing at all.

They came to a small way station with a narrow concrete platform and two rows of metal columns. Clearly people had congregated here once, as the tracks had several crates and other debris piled up against the tunnel walls. It looked more like a dumping ground than a station. Setting down his armor and uniform top on the edge of the platform, he climbed up in search of the circuit breaker. He flipped it on a minute later and two dim bulbs flickered to life, giving just enough ambient light to see the contours of the dismal architecture, at the very least eliminating the danger of tripping over the random garbage that was strewn about the area.

"Alright, here is good. It's quiet." He spoke curtly, dragging a wooden box into the middle of the platform and then turned to her slowly as he was still coming up with a plan. "Give me your bandana for a minute."

"What for?" She asked, though she didn't hesitate to obey his command, undoing the knot of the loose fabric around her neck with one finger and handing it to him before setting down her rucksack and rifle next to his things.

"I want you to sit here in the middle, cover your ears and give me time to pick a location." He folded the triangle of cloth downwards so it formed a narrow band. "Then I'm going to try to reach you as silently as I can and you see if you can tell where I'm coming from. Got that?"

"Sure, that's easy," she said with a smirk but as if trying to convince herself.

"Sit. Here." He commanded gently, and began tying the cloth over her eyes after she had taken her position.

Aleks took a breath and settled herself both physically and mentally, spreading out her feet and placing both hands beside her, sitting up tall with her shoulders straight. She let in a rush of sound, trying to assimilate the slight chorus of ambient noise in this little waystation; there was a very slight wind whistling in the right hand tunnel, a pipe dripped distantly, and there was the quiet scratching of rats along the walls.

"Now cover your ears, count to ten, and then I will begin." He said, taking a step backwards.

She obliged his instructions and covered her ears with her hands, and then in a moderate tone she began counting down. As soon as she had spoken, Hunter ran to the side, her back right corner, and pushed up against the grimy wall. As she continued to count, he took three large steps to the right, so he was seeing her in profile.

"Четыре… три… два… один." She sounded out, and then very slowly and carefully lowered her hands, though didn't replace them on the box, leaving them held out to the side.

Now it was on, and he quickly decided his approach, taking note of several puddles on the ground and some concrete rubble next to her right foot. He took a step and then suddenly wondered how nimble he should be. Would it be best to try his absolute hardest to be completely silent in his approach? Or should he start out a bit clumsily and give her some confidence first? Another cautious step, and he was still stuck on the decision, though he certainly didn't want to baby her in any way – she had been more than willing and capable of his assignments. No, he would give it his all, and if she could pick up on his motions, it would prove either that he was a good teacher or had begun to lose his touch.

She jerked her head in his direction, craning and stretching her neck, trying to flatten her ear to his exact location in order to take in as much of the muted sounds as possible. He caught his breath in his chest, holding himself still for a few tense seconds to throw her off the trail. Daring to take a wide step to his left, there was a slight click as his boot had come down on the very edge of a puddle.

"On the right." She said softly, lowering her chin and waiting for him to admit that he had been discovered.

"Very good. I'll have to try harder, then." He chuckled softly, though he would normally have been angry with himself, in the end it was also a game of wits, and he was having fun. Satisfied that he had chosen not only a low-energy test but also apparently an enjoyable one, he took in a satisfied breath and just admired her tenacity.

"десять… девять…" She had wasted no time in restarting the clock.

Awed and impressed with her eagerness to continue, he quickly dashed to the other side of her and then to the right and down the platform. Circling around one of the far columns, he decided to take a direct approach this time.

"шесть… пять…" She sounded in a light voice that echoed along the concrete floor.

He watched and listened to her carefully, already planning his approach and scanning his eyes along the dimly lit floor for obstacles that would give him away. Aside from some kind of spent canisters on the left, the path in the exact middle of the platform was clear; no puddles or piles of plaster or concrete.

When she finished the countdown and removed her hands from her ears, he started forward. This time, he would run out the nonexistent clock; even though the path was clear, he also wanted to test her patience. How long would she wait in silence before she began to second-guess herself? Would she become agitated and start calling out directions where she could hear the rumblings and echoes of ambient existence in other parts of the station? Could she discern human movement from the light breezes gushing through the tunnels on either side?

He counted his own ten seconds and then took a step forward, angling his foot to steady himself in a wide stance, remaining in between steps as he counted again. Ten more seconds, a step, ten more, a step, twenty, thirty, forty-five seconds. Now a full minute had passed and he had closed half the distance, and Aleks had not moved a muscle. Her fingertips touched the edge of the crate gently, and her body was held stiffly as if some electric charge was running through her from the floor. Thirty more seconds passed and he found himself no more than four feet from her, had she really not heard or sensed anything so far? Or was she now toying with him, too?

Holding his breath and tenderly taking another step forward until he was crouched just one foot from her, he began studying her face for any kind of clues as to what she was thinking. Unable to discern a single hint from the features he could see, he began to tune in to other senses. The air here was humid and her sweet scent permeated it; the deep earthy smell of the charcoal soap she used, the tart aroma of rusted metal in her hair that was still damp, the musk of her handmade leather vest. Caught up in the symphony, he hadn't yet noticed the ever-so-slight smile pulling at the corners of her pale pink lips.

A hand was slowly rising into the air; her right hand hovered warily halfway between them, her fingers gently stretching outwards and searching. He was completely stunned as her fingertips grazed against his forehead timidly, then gently flattened as she confirmed her target and combed through his short dark hair – sending a shiver like a spark of electricity down his spine. It was then that he noticed her smile as it grew, mischievous, satisfied, and she had left her hand against him, forbidding his tongue from forming any words.

"My turn." She said softly, finally moving her hand away to untie the bandana.

He was about to speak, although he didn't really know what to say, but she was already audaciously wrapping the cloth around his head, tying the ends in the back and staring into his eyes momentarily.

"Alright," he managed to say as she stepped aside and he took her place on the box and lowered the bandana over his eyes. He took a deep breath, trying to remember exactly what the lesson was supposed to be about.

"Well, count for us then." She said in a teasing voice from somewhere on his left.

"десять… девять…" He sounded off dully, almost forgetting to cover his ears until he was already two numbers in. Why was he suddenly so distracted?

He finished the countdown and quickly lowered his hands, blocking out the swishing sound of his t-shirt as he settled. The wind in the tunnel had subsided momentarily, there was a pipe dripping at uneven times, and there was a small creature scurrying along the floor on the left. His heart pounded in his ears. Calm, he had to remain calm, block out everything else. There! The rubble on the floor had given her away, but she had gotten close in just that short amount of time.

"From behind." He stated a little too loudly. Hearing her disappointed huff, he switched gears and said in a softer tone. "It's okay. Try again."

* * *

Hunter had restarted the numbers and Aleks instantly decided to dance in a quick circle around him. Not for just any reason, but she thought that passing close by him on all sides would confuse him enough so that she would have more time to think. In the nanoseconds between his words, she made sure he could hear her boots scrape against the concrete purposefully and slapped her hands loudly on a column as she swung around it. Then he was almost at the end and she darted over to the side, ending up on his front left and watching him hunch his head down to listen for her once he had fallen silent.

She carefully planned her route, with the only real problem being the slight incline from the tracks up to the concrete lip of the platform as her momentum had carried her off the edge. Being careful to only step wholly on the wooden crosstie and not into its rocky foundation, she began her approach. Only in placing the arch of her foot onto the corner of the platform at an angle could ensure that no sound was made, it had the least amount of surface area and the thickest remaining rubber in the sole, and her instincts proved her right as she climbed the step and paused. He had turned his head slightly, first towards one side of the space and then the other; each time he showed the tiniest fraction of a movement she stopped dead and held in her breath. This time, she would not fail. This time she would get within an inch of him, was it possible?

Another three steps brought her within five feet of the intimidating figure, and she studied his magnificently sculpted arms for a solid minute just out of admiration – he didn't normally wear short sleeves. If Hunter could hear almost everything, sense invisible wavelengths in the tunnels, and predict danger, then he couldn't possibly still be oblivious to her affectionate interest. The subtle gestures, slight smiles, and the plucky confidence she tried to exude in order to receive his confidence in return had kept the status quo. But something else had been building besides a mere partnership of skill. In the months that had gone by since he had taken her to live in Novokuznetskaya, she found that he consumed more and more of her thoughts with each visit. Where at first she would think of their lessons for a few hours after he had parted from her company and then go on with her day back at the station until he randomly appeared again, soon she had found herself imagining the next time they would meet. After their next few reunions she began to suspect that he had some kind of similar interest in her as well; how else could she explain why he kept traveling out of his way repeatedly, taking precious time out of his assignments to spend with her. When he spoke candidly, she always had the suspicious feeling that he didn't talk as much with anyone else, and the slight smirk constantly fixed on his lips during it all had confirmed enough for her. She was certainly not immune to any amount of his charm, though he had nearly exasperated every ounce of it to hook her interest in the first place. But even after she had agreed to his proposition to become partners and exchange secrets, he still radiated his undeniable magnetism anyway. Just to keep her interested in their strange partnership? Or to grow their bond into something more than that? Her only answer lay in the multitude of quick glances and half-displayed expressions she had caught him in, and the noted difference in his voice and behavior between when they were in the midst of something serious, and when their conversations gave way to playful banter and hinted emotions. For certain, he had to have noticed it all, too. And maybe he just didn't know how to proceed.

Finally, she shook herself out from the rabbit hole of wishful thinking, wondering how much time had actually passed while she had been daydreaming. A quick study informed her that he had not moved or given up on the game, and she guessed that at least two or three minutes had passed while she had just been staring at him sitting there. Suddenly she came to a conclusion, and made a decision – to test him the same way he had been testing her. It was time to find out exactly how he felt. Tracing her gaze upwards, her crosshairs fell on her target, and she searched for her next step. A pause, and she slowly let out her breath through her nose and took in another, the last one she would need to reach her goal.

* * *

With nothing but whispers reaching his ears, he could only guess at the amount of time that had passed. Serves him right for trying to make her wait as he had during his last attempt, and he still couldn't decide if he had passed or failed. Had she sensed him coming and simply didn't object? Was she even taking the task seriously? Would she still have reached out like that if he hadn't been there right in front of her? Maybe she had smelled something of him as well, at the same moment he was admiring her alluring aroma.

His head wavered slightly, as he had begun to shake off those thoughts, but then he straightened up again. Was that a footstep? A rustle? He had to focus, at any minute she could sneak up and – would she reach out and touch him again?

He would be lying to himself if he said he hadn't felt a strange tension between them in the last few weeks. Chalking it up to stress or their demanding workloads, he had tried to force any other possibilities to the back of his mind. There wasn't much time to consider the implications of romance, but her gentle touch had started him wondering again. Wondering if he was crazy, or simply misunderstanding her actions somehow. When he returned back home, he told himself, he would sit and take a closer look at all the signs – think through every tiny detail and plan how to fit her more closely into his life realistically. If he wanted his own wishes to come true about spending more time with her, he would have to rearrange his duties with the Order and stop taking so many risks. Maybe he could convince Colonel Melnik to consider recruiting her?

Then, as he had been questioning himself, he felt an interruption in his aura, the tingling sense that something was nearby. But it wasn't anything dangerous, and it wasn't the familiar haunting dark atmosphere that filled the tunnels.

* * *

Three inches, two inches, one. She had come down onto both knees and steeled herself, having to straighten her back up tall in order to reach his level. Breathing as shallowly as she possibly could while still getting enough oxygen to function, she leaned in. There was the deep and familiar smell of his perspiration, but it was absolutely the opposite of repulsive, it was enticing. How she longed to just wrap herself up in his scent and lay in it forever, wrap her arms around and hold onto him.

A flash of fire rushed through her and sparked her muscles to finish the action because her mind had seized up on that final thought. Her soft lips met his cheek, and it gently pricked her with its short stubble, hooking into her like a million thorns, like the Velcro on the tabs of the body armor he always wore, and she remained there, wanting to be stuck forever.

* * *

The moment she made contact ignited another hot electric spark that shot down his body like a bullet and left him unable to move. She had turned out to be very daring today, and he had arrived to Novokuznetskaya unprepared for this kind of interaction. He thought he would have had more time to process the possibilities of their relationship before deciding that he was just crazy and giving up on the idea entirely, but fate had decided otherwise. What was just a childish fantasy in the back of his mind had now come full circle before he had gotten the chance to completely deconstruct the notion as he did with every other situation that crossed his path. Though he had witnessed some telling signals with increasing frequency over the past few months, he hadn't considered how it might escalate, or why he was allowing it to. Perhaps this one area was his weakness, and he couldn't plan tactically or strategically for her advances, he had simply allowed her to walk straight in and surround him, but he also found that there was not an ounce of regret. In fact, he had completely detached from interfering with the progression of their partnership from the very beginning, and let it take its own course, growing like a wildflower in the soil of providence. He could not forget that Aleks was her own separate and amazing human being, with her own thoughts, and dreams, and hopes, and fears, and that was what drew his attention to her in the first place. From their very first conversation, their relationship had steadily spread out its roots and grown as its own entity – progressing from mutual intrigue, to reverent respect, to admiration, to affection, and now to passion. His only fear had been in disappointing her somehow, in finding out that he had misread her intentions, or in allowing his emotions to cloud his judgment in other areas which could compromise her safety. Having come down the path this far, now there was no turning back, and her decisive action demanded a response, he couldn't simply brush her away or pretend it hadn't happened. With open arms he welcomed this new reality right into his soul without any further question, even though it had seemed so fantastically impossible before. Once the warmth of her kiss spread, the roots of the organism burrowed into him and begged for sustenance, he was able to move with certainty again.

He turned his head ever so slowly, so as not to shake her away, gently gripping her shoulders so she would know that he wasn't going to let her go. Leaning in until their noses touched, he caressed hers with his own, gauging her reaction to his response and waiting for her unspoken permission as the blindfold prohibited him from looking into her beautiful eyes. She moved stiffly, breathing so shallowly that he could barely feel the air against his skin, perhaps she was just as astonished by the force of nature that was sweeping them quickly along the river of destiny. He raised one hand to trace her delicate jaw line with his fingertips, reassuring her with his nearly imperceptible touch that he would be gentle and patient. He didn't even anticipate how tender he could be with another human being and was surprising himself with his actions, as if some outside entity was controlling him like a puppet because he would never have guessed that he was capable.

At his touch, she tilted her head up, officiating the sacred invitation to her lips, and he accepted it, feeling a wash of energy envelop him and course through from the top down and back up again. Their lips met in a close embrace which both had been looking forward to for a long time and that neither wanted to break. The only disturbance was of one of her hands reaching up to remove the blindfold and then settling around his neck, anchoring him there for what could be a blissful eternity. He broke away from her momentarily only to dive back in with renewed fervor, more forcefully meeting her mouth with parted lips, moving against her as if desperately trying to speak but not having any words. And she was speaking back to him, not simply yielding and accepting, but participating in this dance in perfect rhythm with him.

When he could finally convince himself to pull away for breath, she opened up her cloudy sky colored eyes and looked up at him with fresh perspective. He too, was seeing her in a new light, clear and bright and no longer crowded with the dark wispy haze of uncertainty. This force that surrounded them and the roots of the wildflower were all that existed now, and even if he could go back in time, not a single thing left on the scarred Earth could force him to.

"I thought so." She said breathlessly, that same satisfied smile spreading across her pink lips.

"Thought what?" He replied quietly, continuing to stroke her delicate face with one hand, his other arm still not releasing her and hanging around her shoulder.

"That you felt the same way as I do." She said, glancing down for a second but then looking back up for his response.

"I almost didn't know it myself." He said, knitting up a brow as if he were still unconvinced that this was reality and didn't want it to fade away before his eyes.

"What do you mean?" She mirrored his expression, shifting herself directly in front of him and leaning one arm on his legs.

"I didn't think it could be real. It's not what I first intended back when… at Kitai-Gorod." He let his arm slip from her shoulder and took up her hand in his lap.

"Oh I know," she relaxed her face and eased into his touch, "But I guess now we've come to the station of fate after all."

He couldn't reply at that moment and was just losing himself in her sparkling silver blue eyes.

"Are you afraid? Of me? Of destiny?" She reached up her free hand and traced from his temple to his squared jaw.

"Not anymore." He couldn't contain a smile, leaning down and kissing her once again.


	3. Hunter's Confession

**Author's Notes:**

This scene was fun to write and develop as I had speculated for a long time how Hunter might have described Aleks to Melnik, knowing that he would still want to remain somewhat cryptic but also remembering that above all Melnik and Hunter were also close friends who had known each other for a long time. Short of maybe Ulman, (and nobody should trust him with big secrets!), no other Rangers are mentioned as being friendly to Hunter as he constantly travels alone. Therefore, I wanted to delve not only into the issue at hand of reporting to Melnik about his involvement with Aleks, but also he was coming to talk to him as a friend and for advice. My guess is that Hunter had very little time or interest in love, though he may have had other girlfriends earlier on in his life, and so his relationship development with Aleks would have been the first real time he was truly falling in love – and he didn't have a single clue about how to feel about it, haha!

Anyway, here are some reminder hints from Liberation about what Melnik said about what he knew of Aleks and Hunter's relationship:

"I wish she had come to us sooner." Melnik sighed, a regretful frown on his lips. "I didn't even think that Hunter had so much spare time to spend with her – or anyone, really. But perhaps his requests for extra assignments gave him the opportunity to visit her more often. Now, I'm sure of it."

"You would have welcomed her? Even back at Polis?" Ulman inserted, coming back around the corner with three sets of hearing protection.

"He did mention her before, about a year or so ago. He'd been spending more and more time out on patrols, though he always checked in on time. I could tell something was on his mind, so I asked him outright." Melnik shifted his stance, rubbing the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "At first he told me he'd been visiting an old friend, but I didn't believe him. Finally he came clean and told me he had been meeting a girl at Novokuznetskaya. He was pretty enamored with her."

"So you knew about it all along and never did anything?" Ulman challenged the Colonel with a harsh tone, but Artyom couldn't be sure what he had to be angry about.

"We can't just adopt every man's mistress into our fold! Smolensk was already overcrowded… you have to think about these things when you're in command." Melnik sighed harshly as if letting off steam, knowing that no reason was good enough to atone for the loss of their best soldier.

"Mistress?!" Ulman yelled, amused by the sentiment but still sounding irritated. "Hunter wasn't married! Well, I guess they basically could have been. But Aleks is clearly a different breed of woman; we could use a soldier like her."

"I know that _now_!" Melnik roared and then hushed his voice as perhaps Aleks was still nearby. "I know it's my fault – that I didn't listen to him when he came to me about the Dark Ones. You're thinking that she could have joined the Order and been his partner and gone with him to the Gardens, that they could have been a team and protected each other. Perhaps it was all possible at one point… only it didn't happen that way. Hunter never asked me about immigration. In fact, _I_ asked _him_ what he intended to do about her, and as much as I believe that he wanted her here – she refused him."

...

"I wondered why you had not come to us sooner, not even for a meeting? He expressed to me his fondness of you, you know, how important you were to him. And I kept his secret, I suppose you and I both did." – Melnik to Aleks at their first meeting.

* * *

**Directly Following 'The Blindfold Game':**

Colonel Melnik stood in the middle of the room, listening to the Captain brief his men about their imminent mission, nodding his head periodically in agreement to the plans and interjecting with additional advice when asked for clarification on the route they should take. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of the impressively large form of Hunter sauntering towards them unhurriedly.

"So you finally return to grace us with your presence," he said indignantly, but then immediately softened and crossed his arms in amusement, shaking his head but invidiously. Hunter was one of the few people he could trust to be completely autonomous, and Melnik indeed envied the Ranger's freedom to roam about the Metro like some kind of stealthy ambassador. What he wouldn't give for just a few days to roam the tunnels and stations alongside his closest friend, just like old times before faction governments had formed and begun arguing with each other about territory and resources. No wonder Hunter had turned down his promotion; he already had his dream job.

"Yeah, well, I figured you'd be missing me after two weeks. Time to trade in anyway," Hunter laughed, with only half the enthusiasm of a normal person, looking about himself and gesturing to his filthy shirt and the tunic that he carried in hand. Then his expression hardened and he stared directly back at his commander. "There's something I want to tell you about. I'll meet you after I get squared away."

"I'll be in the office, don't hurry yourself." Melnik confirmed with no hint of emotion, simply staring back and wondering what interesting news would be revealed to him this time.

Occasionally a random tip from Hunter's extended patrols to the ends of the underground lines would turn out to be a key piece of information in a later situation or conflict, though most of it sounded like crazy rumors to the casual listener. In two decades the renowned commander of the Spartan Order had learned to discern with high accuracy what was fact or fiction and which aspects of Hunter's tales warranted his attention. Part of this was due just to having known him for a long time, building up a kind of trust that couldn't be artificially manufactured. Hunter never bothered the Colonel with anything that was not relevant in some capacity, and even if something was happening twelve stations away - it informed or involved something which always came their way in the end.

Most of the reports Hunter gave were just the retelling of an issue that he had already dealt with; becoming the detective, judge, jury, and executioner all in one trip. The Colonel had complete confidence in his best Ranger, who denied even having an official rank within the structure of the Order though he was paid in benefits befitting a Lieutenant Colonel, just one rank below himself. Hunter never operated openly and never brought negative attention back with him, in fact there was usually an influx of appreciative radio calls and thank you letters that signaled when he was about to return.

This time, however, there was a different air to the sternness with which Hunter had requested an audience. It wasn't the normal intonation he used even when he had bad news to report. There had been a wavering hesitancy in his voice, and the Colonel had focused in on it, trying to dissect it for possible meaning. Upon wrapping up discussions with the Captain and his men, he wished them luck and headed for his office in the rear of Smolenskaya.

Before the hour fully passed, there was a knock at the door, and he knew who it was just by the pattern.

"Enter." Melnik said loudly, as he had his nose buried in a folder of yet more reports from the front lines.

Hunter entered the room without speaking, hardly making a sound at all and remaining with his back turned after he had closed the door. He was wearing a fresh uniform and clean boots but no armor; he had obviously taken his time showering and combing his hair, looking like the poster child for the Order.

"So, where have you been this time? After your last contact about the amicable updates to the Petchatniki-Hanza accord, I thought you'd be back sooner." Melnik looked up from the file and sat back in his chair. "Come, have a seat, you've got my ear."

"I had some other business to see to." Hunter said in a low voice, still not turning around. "You know, Slavik…" He began in a different tone of voice, turning his head but then retracting everything and facing away again.

Melnik perked up, suddenly on edge, his best soldier was acting very unlike himself and the use of his diminutive first name signaled that there was something of a more personal nature on the Stalker's mind. Had the work load finally caught up with him and worn him down to madness? Had he picked up a common infection that was clouding his thoughts? Perhaps he had encountered some form of misfortune on his journey home and was having trouble coming to terms with his failure, it wouldn't be the first time but it would be the first time in a while.

"You've been spending too much time working, my friend." Melnik stood up and softened his voice; Hunter was not the kind of person to admit when he needed a break or a solid night's rest. If the Colonel expressed his support now, perhaps he could avoid pushing the man closer to a serious breakdown.

"It's not that." Hunter said in an airy voice, finally turning around to reveal a lopsided grin but with an ominous shadow in his eyes. "Well, maybe a little."

"What then? I think all these extra patrols are going to your head; you look like you've gone mad. You can't keep up at this pace forever." Melnik spoke with genuine concern, unsure if he should attempt to dash to the phone and summon the medical team.

"I've been seeing someone." Hunter said nervously, keeping his gaze on the floor and wrestling with his facial expressions.

"What do you mean? Who?" Melnik dared to take a step closer, craning his neck in a futile attempt to read the Stalker's eyes. What could that possibly mean? An informant? A psychiatrist?

"An old friend… or at least, someone I've known for a while now." Was the Colonel going crazy himself, or did Hunter just let out a laugh?

"What are you going on about?" His concern had unfortunately shifted to the side of anger, as in his confusion he simply wanted to cut right to the part where he was given the answers.

"I've come all the way here and still, I can't even tell you," Hunter said with a strange twisted smile, turning away and then back again, pacing across the floor with an air of anxiety that the Colonel had never seen in his most trusted friend before. He seemed to be talking to himself. "But who else could I tell… about this kind of thing?"

"Look at you, what in the world—Are you drunk? Sick?" Melnik said with annoyance, not liking to be toyed with or kept waiting.

"No, Svyatoslav, goddamnit, I'm trying to tell you that I—" Hunter's expression turned angry, but that stupid grin soon reappeared on his face as he struggled for the words. Leaning both hands on the back of the chair he had never sat in, he straightened out his arms and hung his head between them, heaving for a solid breath.

"Oh my merciful… it's finally happened." The impossible reality finally washed over Melnik like a cold shower, and now he was also grinning. "You've fallen in love! I can't believe it! I had given up hope that was even possible for you. Well, who is she?"

"You asshole… well, go ahead and laugh. I've finally decided to trust you and…" The initial arrogance gave way to the joy again and Hunter struggled not to laugh between the words as he tried to describe it. "She's not like anyone else I've ever— I never thought… that it's gotten like this. I just let her walk right in and consume me. Is this what… it's supposed to be like?"

"Wow, you really are head over heels, I never thought I'd see the day!" Melnik chuckled heartily, giving his friend a heavy pat on the back hoping it would force him to recalibrate. "Let's have a drink to celebrate, Ivan, calm your nerves."

"Fine, good, yes." The Ranger still struggled for words and air as if a circuit was disconnected in his brain.

Melnik set about procuring two cups and a frosted glass bottle from a small cabinet in the back of the room, this time offering for them to sit on the ragged sagging couch. Hunter flung himself down heavily and let his body go limp, simply not having the fortitude to keep wrestling with his own internal monologue, that ridiculous grin still plastered on his face like a mask.

"So, where is she from?" Melnik said warmly, pouring them each a cup of the sharp-smelling brew. The aroma of it seemed to help Hunter begin to contain himself and his expression turned more serious as he thought his response through.

"She from… well I left her at Novokuznetskaya, but she escaped from Reich a few years ago with one of its guards. I met her in Kitai-Gorod but it wasn't a good place for her to stay. I was hoping to get a hold of the partisans that started the revolution, or the militia group at Pavelets, do you remember? The Children of the Underground. They could protect her; it would be safer away from those criminals next door in Venice." Hunter took the serving he was given and downed it in one gulp after laying out the story.

"So, you don't intend her to move here with us?" Melnik screwed up his face, finding himself truly disappointed that he may not get the opportunity to meet whatever mystical creature had managed to ensnare the great Hunter. 'So the Hunter became the Hunted,' he chuckled to himself.

"Why bother? I'm hardly here for long anyway." He laughed, though in a slightly different way than before, more somber. "She's got comrades, like her own little bandit clan, I don't think she'll want to—"

The conclusion and possibilities hung in the air uncertainly, and Hunter did not dare to continue his thought process aloud. Taking his own serving in a slow sip, Melnik furrowed his brow and handed Hunter the bottle.

"So what is it you intend to do about her?"

"Nothing. What is there _to_ do?" Hunter replied as if he didn't understand the question, staring at the far wall with detached interest.

"Nothing?" Melnik couldn't believe the answer. "You're just going to keep visiting her in secret like the princess in a castle?"

"She's no damsel in distress, Slavik. I've been teaching her, but she was already more than capable…" Hunter droned, considering pouring himself another glass but then putting down the bottle on the table. "She would make a good addition to the force."

"You think that, but you won't bring her here?" The Colonel said gruffly, now burdened with a new confusion. This mysterious girl sounded too good to be real. "Not even for a visit?"

"I'd like nothing more than to—but she's got her own will." Hunter lowered his head and Melnik suddenly came to another conclusion.

"Do you mean to tell me that she doesn't feel the same way about you?" Melnik pried, still misunderstanding the context of the unbelievable issue at hand.

"Oh no, she made her feelings _quite_ clear today." There was that airy laugh again. Melnik let out a breath, at least his friend was consolable, he shuddered to think of the state Hunter would be in if his affections went unrequited.

"Then why would she not—?" The Colonel began, trying to decipher on his own why anyone so supposedly skilled and acquainted with his best Ranger would turn down the possible opportunity of enlistment.

"I haven't asked her yet." Hunter cut him off, setting his cup down hard on the table. "Write it all up as the one time I never had a plan, alright? You've got that one on me."

"You aren't usually the sort of man who trusts everything to fate and destiny." Melnik laughed under his breath.

"It was sort of nice, for once." Hunter said quietly, and then steeled himself and sat back again. "She's strong, Slavik, she knows what she wants."

"Well, she chose well my friend." Melnik nudged at Hunter's arm with his own.

"Listen, I need you to keep this quiet." Hunter sat up and looked straight at him. "Not for my sake at all - but for hers. If anyone found out where she was, you know how refugees are treated… those fascists are after her and if anything happened—" He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, but his eyes still pierced into the Colonel's, pleading and commanding at the same time.

"I understand." Melnik said quietly, though he didn't fully comprehend the request.

"Swear it to me, Slavik. Even if something happens to me, you must protect her at all costs." Hunter held out a hand to shake on the agreement with no trace of the giddy emotions from before, he was entirely serious and maybe even a little bit fearful.

"I swear to you, Ivan, she will be looked after like one of our own. Your secret is safe in my hands." He accepted the gesture and locked his arm in with the Stalker's.

"Thank you, Svyatoslav. It's very important to me… she is, she is everything to me. Maybe someday she'll come around; you'll meet her at some point." He said slowly, but seemed sure about the last part because he had gazed off and smiled again.

"I hope so, otherwise I wouldn't believe it." Melnik shook his head doubtfully.

"Believe it." Hunter confirmed, sprawling backwards limply again and smiling up at the ceiling. "I mean, for fuck's sake look at me. I'm losing myself."

"Have another drink, then." Melnik chuckled, pouring the rations out and sitting back in a similar fashion. "It sure crept up on you, huh?"

"Yes, and no. She was always… from the minute I first saw her, I knew there was something different, but I never thought it would turn into—" and his words gave way to the quiet laughter again before he let out a long breath and said ominously, "Oh god, I can't go on like this."

"You'll be just fine, Ivan. Let it all out now and you'll be able to focus later." Melnik swayed his cup in a lazy form of toast, the alcohol already swirling in his head because he hadn't eaten in several hours.

"I'm worried, that I'll slip up somehow. She makes me doubt myself, in the way that I worry about her even when she isn't there. How can I keep risking my neck going all these places? What if I'm losing my edge?" Hunter covered his face with his hands, and then rubbed his temples and blinked slowly.

"No way, this is more edge than you've ever had." Melnik pushed at the Stalker's arm jokingly, then gave a sigh and sat back as his most bittersweet memories surfaced. "Yes, I know what you mean, but in a good way it helps us as men. I remember it well, in my Spetsnaz days with my wife waiting at home. You don't second-guess yourself for no reason; she isn't questioning your strength or your choices; you just learn to handle yourself more carefully to ensure that you return to her. You don't have to let it weaken you, let it change you for the better."

"I suppose that makes sense." Hunter confirmed with a scowl, finally accepting the second glass and gulping down half of it.

"Maybe she'll also help remind you to eat, and sleep, and fucking shower regularly." Melnik slapped at him again.

"Asshole." Hunter growled playfully, clinking his glass with the Colonel and finishing it off, admitting to the joke all too readily.

"To your mysterious woman." Melnik toasted with a grin and he downed his own serving.

"To Aleks." Hunter said softly, speaking her name with reverence and gazing off at the wall again as if she existed inside of it.

"To Aleks." Melnik nodded.


	4. Joining the Order

**Expansion on Chapter 17 of Liberation:**

"Colonel Melnik, sir!" Artyom sounded loudly, standing tall and holding his head high, arms rigid by his sides.

"You've finally made it back, Artyom. And all in one piece? Good." The old stalker towered in stature over the pair as he closed the distance and stood at ease in front of them. He was attended by another Ranger whom Artyom didn't recognize. Melnik's eyes wrinkled at the corners as he shifted his gaze to the newcomer and displayed a welcoming and genuine smile. It was a rare sight to see the man smile so warmly and Artyom wondered if it was only because of the guest he had brought. "And you must be Aleks."

"Yes, Colonel. Aleksandrya Dmitriyev." Aleks tensed up noticeably, coming out from behind Artyom's back and standing firmly in a similar fashion.

"Hunter told me a little about you – a refugee from the Reich?" Melnik revealed his knowledge with a sigh, as if he knew her whole story. His smile had faded into one more of pity, and then his expression steeled as was usual.

"Yes, sir." Aleks cleared her throat. Artyom turned only his eyes in her direction without moving his head and saw her grasping at the cartridge around her neck, seemingly not wanting to part with it.

"Let's talk more in my office. Artyom, go with Ulman for now. I'll send for you in a little while, I still want to hear your report." Melnik gestured to the hallway and to Ulman respectively.

Aleks looked over at Artyom with an expression of uneasiness but thanked him in short before following Melnik out of sight.

* * *

"Please, have a seat." Melnik gestured to a padded chair as he circled around the back of the desk and let out a long exasperated sigh as he sat down in his own chair. "I will admit I don't have all the right words for this kind of situation. This is not a normal occurrence for the Order. Hunter's disappearance has left a void in our ranks, one I'm not sure we'll ever be able to refill. Although, his tendency for recruitment hasn't' led us astray yet."

Aleks nodded her head slightly, not knowing if she should try to explain herself or just wait for Melnik to come up with questions.

"Let's start with what you know about us first, then Miss Dmitriyev." Melnik steeled his expression, holding out a hand as if to physically accept her answers with it.

"You can call me by Aleks, sir." She leaned forward in her seat slightly, readying her next response.

"Aleks, then." Melnik smiled again. "Well?"

"Hunter told me a lot about the Polis Rangers; like that many of you were in the Army before the Great War - Spetsnaz, military police, and the like." Aleks hesitated, not knowing if Melnik wanted her to run down the entire history of his own organization. "You support the protection of Polis, but the Kshatriya are the station's guards, instead the Order conducts stalking missions, diplomatic excursions, reconnaissance, and squad tactical assaults in necessary areas."

Melnik nodded with a satisfied grunt.

"You, sir, were always the one in charge from the first day people took shelter in the Metro, and Hunter joined you within the year, but that was before many of the stations were organized as they are now. You didn't really know each other from the time before, but he proved his worth to you and became one of – became _the_ best Ranger your Order has in its ranks." Aleks corrected herself with emphasis, staring Melnik straight into the eyes but with no certain intent.

"You are correct, there's no denying it, our families were friends but we had not met. So, it seems he took to mentoring you in some way, is that right?" Melnik looked her over thoroughly, making his own assumptions about her appearance and attire.

"Without Hunter I would still be a vagabond in Kitai-Gorod, or maybe worse." Aleks didn't want to entertain the thought, although she hadn't considered any alternate fates before and was suddenly intrigued by the succession of visions running through her mind. Being taken under Hunter's wing had been fulfilling and exciting, and she never wanted to picture her life without him. At least she hadn't ever had to, until now, when she was forced to accept his possible death at the hand of the mysterious Dark Ones.

"He explained that you had left the Reich with one of its guards?" The Colonel had shuffled in a pile of papers for a relatively clean sheet and began scribbling something onto the page that Aleks could not see.

"Yes, sir." Aleks seriously didn't want to relay any information about her escape from Reich to the commander of the Spartan Order, but his eyes probed her for further divulgence. "I left Tverskaya after some… disagreements with my mother. I had worked as a seamstress with some other women. One of the shift watchmen, Andrei Ivanovich, helped me to leave there and came with me after his family had been killed in a purge."

Melnik gave a low grunt to show that he had listened fully, while also expressing his horror for the Reich government. He made another scribble on the paper and dotted the end of it.

"I had been in Kitai-Gorod with Andrei for about eight months until Hunter arrived, I suppose he was just passing through for the evening, and I drew his attention when I instigated a fight with some of the bandits at the bar." Aleks perked up with pride, hoping that Melnik would be impressed the same way Hunter had been. She remembered their first meeting fondly, the images of the memory playing in her mind. "He came up to talk to me just after that. That was a bit more than two years ago."

"You don't say?" Melnik's eyes widened with amusement, and Aleks was satisfied with the reaction. "Is it fair to say that he visited you often? No doubt had you along on some of his patrols?"

"Yes, sir. He visited at least once every two weeks, or so. Sometimes less, sometimes more. We spent most of our time keeping tabs on the bandit clans at several stations, interrupting their schemes, practicing stealth, nothing too dangerous." She wasn't about to delve into every account of her adventures with the veteran Ranger, particularly not the times where she had gotten involved in his assigned duties, as he had reinforced how much trouble he would be in if Melnik had ever found out about it –though the Colonel didn't seem to be upset.

"You'll forgive me for asking but was your relationship with Hunter… would you consider it… _enough,_ to be put down on paper? You don't have to go into detail… but –" Melnik kept his eyes on his desk, perhaps on purpose because he didn't seem to actually want to know the answer.

"Yes… sir." Aleks' face flushed, hoping he would change the subject, wishing she could sink right through her chair into an endless abyss rather than elaborate. "We were, um… involved. Battle partners, but… more."

"Alright, then. I apologize; it just has to do with his last will and testament, everyone's family members are on file. Arbitrary paperwork, you know." Melnik cleared his throat uncomfortably and shifted the papers aside, bringing himself to look up at her as he changed the subject. "Well, if you don't mind, I would like to ask you about Artyom as well."

"W-what about him?" Aleks' heart pounded, was she about to be in trouble for capturing a Ranger and delaying his return to the base? Was Melnik going to ask details about their journey or their shared connection to the missing Stalker? Would he tell her to stay away from him because he was the 'Savior' of the Metro and it would be inappropriate to associate with him after this?

"How did he make your acquaintance, specifically?" Melnik had his pen poised over the paper again.

"He came to Novokuznetskaya from the surface three days ago; I have a sentry posted there to keep watch on the bandits or any other factions passing through. He's the radio operator." Aleks began uncertainly, just now deciding that she would try to hide the full existence and purpose of Roten Spaten from the Colonel. It's not that she feared a conflict, but it was her duty to protect her soldiers and the citizens from any form of threats, and she didn't think that Melnik needed to know every minute detail about her business with the Revolutionists. She decided to make a direct tie back to Hunter and the Order's connection to her situation. "Hunter had last visited me about six weeks prior, he seemed very fearful to go to Exhibition, so when I heard nothing but rumors of the Dark Ones, their annihilation, and the discovery of D6… I knew something was wrong when he didn't contact me. I-I signed the note… I had promised, just like with Artyom."

"Hmm," Melnik let out a somber breath. "Did he ask you to come here in person?"

"Yes, Colonel. He wanted me to speak to you, he had some things saved for me, and he wanted me to-" Aleks gripped the arms of the chair nervously, was this the pinnacle moment that she and Hunter had both envisioned? Was she about to be invited to officially join the Order? Is this still what she wanted now that Hunter had disappeared? Or would Melnik disapprove of the idea and ask her to leave?

"To become one of us." Melnik finished for her, though he didn't sound very sure. "And do you share that desire?"

"I fear for my home station in my absence. But I owe Hunter my whole life." She said quietly.

"That's all then?" Melnik asked, but then went on talking without waiting for any further answers from her. "I have no objections, really, as Hunter's endorsement carries a lot of weight – whether he is still with us or not. In fact I wondered why you had not come to us sooner, not even for a meeting? He expressed to me his fondness of you, you know, how important you were to him. And I kept his secret, I suppose you and I both did."

Aleks could feel the prick behind her eyes and could only nod her head slightly in response, the hot lump of emotion in her throat making it hard to speak and breathe. Somehow, hearing someone else talk about her relationship with Hunter was not comforting, but made her feel even worse inside. If only she could pay the Colonel with her soul right now, just to bring Hunter back with instantaneous magic. She would give up all notions of joining the Order, even her dreams of leaving the Metro and searching for Emerald City, just to embrace him one more time. Yes, she was sure that even if she could merely exchange her existence for his, then she would do so. His visage flashed before her eyes momentarily and she clutched at the cartridge on her chest.

"Anyway, we must look forward to the future, and focus on the present." Melnik finally spoke again, breaking the spell of their mutual daydreaming. "All those who join us undertake a mission, a test of merit if you will. You will be assigned a partner, and if you fulfill the task well under supervision, then you may begin official training with us and earn your rank – though you may be able to test ahead further than a normal recruit."

Aleks blinked her eyes a few times, slowly bobbing her head and taking in his instructions. Here it was, the complacent moment where she would fulfill her promise to Hunter, if only he were here to see it happen.

"If you truly share his wish, to carry on his legacy, then I will assign you to my daughter – Anna. She is the Captain of our sniper squad, the best there is, and is quite comfortable with surface excursions. I will send for her now and then she can show you around the base and to the barracks and common areas. You'll be issued a uniform and everything else that comes with the title of recruit." Melnik had already reached for the phone as he laid out the terms.

Aleks was completely unsure what to say, was there no paperwork to be signed, nothing further than the signatures inside her cartridge capsule? Maybe she had expected more fanfare, more conversation about what was expected of her, but perhaps there was no need for that with the Order. Or perhaps she was allowed to skip all of those steps because of her connection to their best Ranger. As the Colonel had said, she already had the blessing of Hunter's praises so perhaps there was no need for the usual formalities and interviews that might take place with a normal applicant.

"Melnik here, send Anna up to my office to prepare our new recruit." Melnik said succinctly and hung up the phone, looking back at Aleks with some kind of sympathy before setting aside the paper he had been taking notes on. "Do you have any questions to ask of me?"

"Did you want to see the cartridge?" Aleks asked nervously, clutching at the pendant again with one hand.

"No, you can hang on to it. As you can see, I already understood Hunter's intentions. Do you know, I was the one who suggested it to him?" Melnik gave that warm smile again, which comforted her to know she didn't need to give up her memento but also got her wondering what details Hunter had told the Colonel of her – evidently enough to gain her access to D6 and an audience with the commander of the Order. "Anything else?"

"What if…" Aleks hesitated, not sure how Melnik would react to her indecision, "What if I choose not to stay?"

"That is your right, I suppose." Melnik slumped in his chair slightly, his disappointment showing through his furrowed brow. "I would harbor no malice against you, but we could certainly use more experienced soldiers in our ranks."

"I promise I will do my best," Aleks bit her lip, "And if I must leave, I will send you other recruits. I have... a network."

"Accepted." Melnik twisted his mouth into a flat smile and stood up from his chair as there was a knock at the heavy metal door to his office. "That'll be Anya now. Enter!"

The door creaked aside and a sturdy young woman with dark hair and strong features stood perfectly centered in the arch, saluting starkly. She wore a heavy orange-colored jumpsuit which Aleks recognized as hazard protective gear, likely connected to Melnik's comment about her being comfortable with surface missions.

"Colonel Melnik, sir. You sent for me?" Anna said coldly. Aleks got a very clear impression of her character from her intonation and immediately recognized the similarities between Anna and her father.

"Yes, I want to introduce you to our new recruit." Melnik came around the desk and stood next to Aleks who quickly got to her feet and turned to face Anna in the doorway. "This is Aleksandrya Dmitriyev, she is Hunter's… well, she's joining us on his request. Give her the tour and get her gear issued out under my order. You can have a look at her weapons competency before you bring her to the barracks. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" Anna now fixed her steely gaze on Aleks who suddenly felt very intimidated. "Come along, Dmitriyev."

"Yes, Captain. Thank you, Colonel." Aleks turned her head to address the tall commander standing next to her and suddenly realized an opportunity. "And, about Artyom, sir, it wasn't his fault – the delay, it was all because of me, so… please don't admonish him because of it. He acted very professionally, even when we met the anomaly. I wouldn't have made it here without his help. Okay." She convinced herself to finish up awkwardly when she caught the confused and abhorrent expression on Anna's face.

"Don't you worry about Artyom; he's not in any trouble." Melnik confirmed with half a smile, giving Aleks a pat on the shoulder as his sendoff and permission to leave. "And don't be afraid to come to me if you have any concerns."

"Thank you, sir." Aleks turned back to Anna and walked off after her lead, touching the capsule around her neck once more and letting out a contented sigh. She had fulfilled her promise to Hunter, and whether he ever returned or not, somehow she felt lighter inside.


End file.
